Category: EU

UK inches towards potential EU trade war – impact on European logistics

After the PM’s trip to Northern Ireland this week failed to trigger any progress in the dead-locked political situation, the government has announced plans to table legislation that will scrap parts of the Northern Ireland protocol, in spite of fears that it could initiate a trade war with the ... Read more

July UK border changes from the EU

On the 1st July 2022, previously deferred UK border controls on the importing of animal health products and Safety and Security declarations, will come into force. From 1st July 2022, you will need to provide safety and security information about goods you are bringing into Great Britain from ... Read more

P&O inadvertently slash European Channel capacity

Freight services between the UK and Europe continue to face suspension after P&O Ferries’ Dubai-based owner, DP World laid off 800 workers last week, amid a controversial restructuring exercise. There are consequences in overland supply chains that had not been considered by most. A... Read more

Third of businesses not prepared for EU customs changes

With the multiple transitions, extensions and grace periods granted by the government, to minimise the impact on supply chains, of cutting trade ties between the UK and EU, 30% of businesses were still 'not at all prepared' for customs controls, when they were reintroduced in January. Through ... Read more

Post-Brexit changes and demand driving up customs brokerage costs

New post-Brexit customs rules mean extra processes around declaring goods, which is increasing demand for scarce brokerage resources and pushing up the price of imports to the UK. Despite the UK government investing over £700 million in border infrastructure and additional technolog... Read more

UK government funds 11,000 new HGV drivers

HGV driver numbers have shrunk by a quarter since 2019, creating a supply chain crisis that has accelerated post-Brexit, with an estimated shortage of between 40,000 and 100,000 lorry drivers, leaving gaps on shelves and triggering October’s petrol crisis. Transport within the UK, Europe and... Read more

Ports under post-Brexit pressure

The 1st January 2022 changes to UK border policies, with the imposition of customs declaration for imports from the EU, got off to the rockiest of starts when the new supporting IT system, the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS), crashed on day one, with trucks stuck at Calais for four days. ... Read more

2021; a year of supply chain challenges

All around the world, companies have been impacted by supply chain challenges in 2021. With the pandemic’s disruption exacerbated by ‘Black Swan events', from Brexit, to the Suez Canal blockage, we have been working tirelessly to help our customers overcome these challenges and share critical... Read more

GVMS, your new frontier control mechanism – January 1st 2022

On the 1st January 2022 the UK is imposing full border controls and many short-sea ports, including Dover and Eurotunnel have opted to use Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) as the frontier control mechanism. We have been using it since its launch at the beginning of the year, for GB-NI m... Read more

Shippers risk falling foul of post-Brexit origin rules

Many British companies trading with the EU are still failing to understand the extent of their legal obligations to comply with the origin rules of the EU-UK trade deal and could face disruptive enforcement action by customs authorities, when a ‘grace’ period for UK imports ends on the 1st Ja... Read more

Brexit delay, dithering and duties: Metro has your back

To the consternation of many shippers, the Government is changing the start dates for new border checks and processes for imports and exports with the EU. The good news is that Metro’s experts can protect your supply chain from these changes and simplify customs compliance, with our intelligent... Read more

Metro ready for UK’s new single customs platform – are you?

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced last week that the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), a system integrated with our market-leading technology, will serve as the UK’s single customs platform from 31st March 2023. Operating since 1994, HMRC is finally retiring its Customs Handling of Im... Read more